Low-Cost System for Maintaining Low Atmospheric CO 2 Levels During Arabidopsis Cultivation.

Photosynthesis requires CO ₂ as the carbon source, and the levels of ambient CO ₂ determine the oxygenation or carboxylation of Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) by RuBP carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco). Low CO ₂ levels lead to oxygenation and result in photorespiration, which ultimately causes a reduction in net carbon assimilation through photosynthesis. Therefore, an increased understanding of plant responses to low CO ₂ contributes to the knowledge of how plants circumvent the harmful effects of photorespiration. Methods for elevating CO ₂ above ambient concentrations are often achieved by external sources of CO _2, but reducing CO ₂ below the ambient value is much more difficult as CO ₂ gas needs to be scrubbed from the atmosphere rather than added to it. Here, we describe a low-cost method of achieving low CO ₂ conditions for Arabidopsis growth.
(© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)